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The U.S. Pulls Troops from Northeastern Syria: Global Shipping Industry Prepares for a Rule Change; Artists with Disabilities Thrive at a U.S. Studio
Aired October 08, 2019 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Warm welcome to our viewers worldwide. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10.
First story we`re explaining today concerns the United States, the nation of Turkey and the group of Kurdish fighters near a Turkish border.
Here`s what`s happening: the U.S. military had about a thousand troops operating in northeastern Syria last month. Syria borders Turkey. But the
Trump administration announced this week that American forces would be leaving the area.
This is happening as Turkey plans what it calls a ground and air operation. The country says its goal is to establish peace by clearing out terrorists
from the region. But here`s where things get complicated. Some of the fighters that Turkey sees as terrorists may also be U.S. allies.
We`re talking about the Kurds. They`re an ethic group that leaves in this part of the world. Some of them have been attacking Turkey`s government
for decades because they want their own country within Turkey. That`s why Turkey and some other nations see certain Kurdish groups as terrorists.
But there are Kurdish militias in neighboring Syria that have helped the U.S. defeat the Islamic State terrorist group there. These Kurdish
militias are U.S. allies and they`re afraid that by moving American troops out of the region, the U.S. is turning its back on the Kurds and opening
the door for Turkey to attack them.
The American military says it and President Donald Trump do not endorse a Turkish military operation in northern Syria, and that the U.S. Armed
Forces would not be involved.
But Kurdish forces say a Turkish military operation would have a negative impact on the war against Islamic State and destroys stability in the
region.
What happens next depends largely on Turkey and what it actually does in Syria.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ (voice-over): Ten-second trivia:
The International Maritime Organization is an agency of what?
The United Nations, the U.S. government, the European Union, or INTERPOL?
The IMO was originally the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization when the U.N. established it in 1948.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: Glad they simplified that.
According to the United Nations, shipping delivers more than 80 percent of the world`s trade and the IMO works to improve industry safety and reduce
its pollution. A new limit on the amount of sulfur allowed in marine fuels is set to take effect in January. It`s intended to decrease air pollution.
The U.S. government expects that shipping fuel prices will increase next year and settle down afterward, but the shipping industry uses so much fuel
every day that experts say its search for low sulfur fuels could affect everything from the cost of driving to the cost of flying. Some shipping
organizations are still trying to figure out how they`ll adopt. Others are sailing ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN DEFTERIOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On Norway`s west coast, the sea for centuries has delivered a bounty, from fisheries to oil to
cruise terrorism. But with big industry comes an impact on the environment, which cruise company Hurtigruten has been trying to offset
with a new fleet of hybrid ships.
(on camera): The company`s move to hybrid comes ahead of a sea change in the industry itself. Come January, sulfur from heavy fuel oil will have to
be a fraction of what it was for decades, setting off a scramble in the industry for solutions.
(voice-over): These engine rooms would soon be transformed to a new hybrid system, combining marine gas oil with electric battery packs, and even
biogas, produced from organic waste from Norway`s fisheries and forest.
DANIEL SKJELDAM, CEO, HURTIGRUTEN: Our aim is to show that it`s possible, that we can build the world`s first hybrid-powered cruise ship with
batteries, that we can be the first ones to start using biogas from a circular economy, and then we expect other ones to pick it up.
DEFTERIOS: While Hurtigruten has a relatively small fleet and small vessels than the giant cruise liners, some holding ten times the
passengers, the CEO was hoping his company will have a giant role influencing the industry.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: In Oakland, California, there`s the studio whose artwork is sought after around the world. It`s the largest nonprofit center of its kind.
It`s given tools and inspiration to hundreds of artists since it opened in 1974, but the true secret to its success is the artists themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM DI MARIA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CREATIVE GROWTH: I remember my first experience of seeing this amazing production of art that was different than
what I had seen and it was such a personal expression by the person making it. They may or may not have had language, they may or may not been able
to communicate with me, but they`re making this work that`s really, you know, a window into their soul.
When you ask someone who`s been disenfranchised their entire life to tell me your story it`s amazing how the door opens.
SUBTITLE: Great Big Story: Art and Soul.
DI MARIA: Creative Growth Art Center is the oldest and largest center for artists with disabilities in the world. When we were founded, the idea of
disability, then, was so radically different than what it is now.
We didn`t come out of a hospital setting or we didn`t come out of a vocational training program, we came out of some artists getting together,
in a home in Oakland, putting paint on a table in the garage and just saying, this is what artists do, and this is how we can change the social
fabric.
From those, kind of, humble beginnings, we now serve 162 artists with disabilities in our studio, every week. It`s a very big space. Within
that, you`ll find almost every possible expression of visual art. You`ll see the rug making area, the wood shop, the ceramic studio, the fashion
area, the painting and drawing area and everyone`s working together and everyone can see each other.
It`s different than most places and some people don`t believe it. Some people think, like, you must have doctors and you must have all these other
things and how do you deal with the studio everyday. I was like, it`s like, no, you know, art is the common language. And a lot of our folks
don`t verbalize or speak or they speak sign language, but art is the language that moves us forward.
DANIEL GARDINER, ARTIST: This is called the oil red sea number one. Red is the only color I can see.
DI MARIA: You look at work of an artist like Dan Miller (ph), you know, he`s pretty much non-verbal. His mother tried to encourage him to speak by
telling him how to spell words when he was a boy, every night, and never spoke them until he started to draw them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A light goes click, click, click.
DI MARIA: Look at an artist like Monica Valentine (ph), she takes pins and she takes sequins and colored beads, and she strings those together on the
pin and she puts them into Styrofoam forms to form these optically charged sculptures. When you realize that Monica has prosthetic eyes and can`t see
color or see anything, it moves into this whole other range.
We want their own voice. We want it as pure and personalized as it can be. And 45 years later, it continues to work.
How`s that building coming along, Pete?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slowly.
DI MARIA: It`s looking good.
The record of success of Creative Growth is phenomenal, it`s off the charts in terms of what an art school or any other, sort of, enterprise would
consider to be acceptable.
We have three artists with work in the Museum of Modern Art Permanent Collection in New York, in the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Collection.
And, this year, we have the first two people with developmental disabilities, they have work in the Venice Biennale. The Venice Biennale
is the most important, prestigious, by invitation-only exhibition in the world.
Their work is sought after. You know, a piece is done, and there`s a waiting list.
Rosina (ph), I haven`t even said hello to you, yet, today. How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good.
DI MARIA: To be able to work at a place like this is beyond anything I had hoped for. I get to work with phenomenally talented people, and to see how
they negotiate the day everyday, how they get around obstacles, how they continue to say yes, when everyone is telling them no, that`s an amazing
thing. That`s a life lesson I get reminded of every single day.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
AZUZ: In keeping with our art theme, we present to you -- pumpkin carving, under water, because it`s autumn in the Florida Keys. This was a
competition among dozens of artists who work in teams of two to carve out their best jack-o-lantern. The price was a free dive trip in Key Largo.
And this might be harder than you think because pumpkins are naturally buoyant. So, the carvers had to keep them from floating away while they
work.
It`s not always easy to scuba out of pumpkin, and if your skill doesn`t stem from deep seated creativity, you got to be careful not to get
waterlogged with frustration and just flip your lid. You just take a deep breath, dig in and carve out something nifty, you`ll be sure to do a really
gourd job.
I`m Carve-l Asus for CNN 10.
END
